“For the World Cups it was agreed that we go to Russia because it’s never been in Russia, eastern Europe, and for 2022 we go back to America. And so we will have the World Cup in the two biggest political powers.”

Yet what was significant was who did not make it to Brussels. David Ginola, attempting to run against Blatter, was not in the house. Neither was Prince Ali Bin Hussein, a FIFA vice-president and an alternative to Blatter with some credibility even if commentators who should know better have dismissed him as “some Jordanian prince.”